


Forewarned & Forearmed

by Kiiratam



Series: BeeDSM [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Anxiety, BDSM mention, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Glynda is a hardass, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 21:57:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20104255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: Blake and Yang are fighting in the practice arena, and there's an accidental injury.Takes place between Volumes 2 and 3. (My BMBLB fic index)





	Forewarned & Forearmed

Yang hit the ground, hard, a deep cut in her leg. The lights came up in the practice arena as Blake caught Gambol Shroud, the edge dark with her friend's blood. Dropped it at her feet in numb shock. She distantly heard the exclamations of the rest of the class. Ruby's cry of alarm.

  
Professor Goodwitch had arrived at Yang's side, and was brandishing her crop at the wound. Yang was still bleeding, but the flow had slowed.

  
Blake rushed forward, but Goodwitch held up an arm. "Stay there, Miss Belladonna. Your friend will be fine, but we'll need to give the doctor space to work. She's already on her way." Blake looked past her, seeing Yang's eyes open, but hazed with pain. _My fault._

  
Professor Goodwitch raised her voice. "While we wait, who can tell me what went wrong here? Yes, Miss Nikos."

  
"Yang attacked when her Aura was very low. Blake thought the match was over, and wasn't as in control of her weapon as she should have been. "

  
"Correct. It is a problem with chain weapons, like Miss Belladonna's, or Miss Sustrai's. You are at the mercy of momentum, and if you lose control, it will hurt you or those near you." Professor Goodwitch turned from addressing the class to Blake. "Miss Belladonna, be sure to remember that." And then to Yang. "Miss Xiao Long, if your Aura is that low, you should not be attacking. There is a time for desperate gambits, but a practice bout is not it."

  
Yang nodded, jaw clenched. Her eyes faded from red back to violet. Goodwitch went on. "I know that your Semblance encourages those sorts of measures. But if your Aura is depleted, you won't be able to activate your Semblance. So do be careful, Miss Xiao Long."

  
The doctor and her assistants rushed onto the arena floor. Spoke quickly and quietly to Goodwitch. Blocked Blake's view of her fallen team-mate as they started to work. _I hurt Yang._ Blake picked up Gambol Shroud, flicked Yang's blood off of it. Resheathed it and put it on her back. She didn't want to, wanted to hurl it into a corner and never look at it again. But taking care of her weapon was second nature. Besides, it was her fault. Not Gambol Shroud's. Blake looked down, not wanting to look up into the stands surrounding the arena. Didn't want to see Ruby's face.

  
Yang was carried out of the arena, but Blake couldn't see anything through the people carrying the stretcher. Professor Goodwitch turned back to her. "Miss Belladonna. Please return to your seat. Speak to me after class." She raised her voice to address the class. "We will continue our inter-team bouts with Miss Nikos and Miss Valkyrie. We will end the bouts at the same level of Aura depletion as before, or by forfeit. Please be careful, girls. Remember, the Vytal Tournament is coming up soon."

  
Blake returned to her place, next to Ruby and Weiss. Sat there, notebook open, pen still. Watched Pyrrha and Nora's fight, not really seeing it. _ It's my fault. I should've known Yang would keep attacking. It's Yang. It was supposed to be a friendly match. Will she be okay? She has to be okay. What would I do if she wasn't?_

  
Felt a hand on her shoulder. Looked to her side, saw Ruby looking at her with a troubled expression. Ruby squeezed her shoulder, leaned in to whisper. "She'll be okay, Blake. Nothing can keep Yang down."

  
Blake hoped Ruby was right. She nodded, tried to keep her emotions off her face. _Breathe in. Hold it. Breathe out._

  
Looked back out to the arena. Past Nora's latest charge, and Pyrrha's attempts to slip aside and riposte. To the blood splatters on the ground.

* * *

"Have a seat, Miss Belladonna." Professor Goodwitch pointed. Blake sat. "This was an accident. Both of you made mistakes. You're a good student. I expect you to learn from this incident."

  
"Yes, ma'am."

  
"What can you do next time?"

  
Blake swallowed. _Don't hurt Yang._ "Treat every match like it's a real fight. Don't relax until after everything is definitely resolved. Don't assume I know what my opponent is going to do."

  
Goodwitch nodded. "Excellent. Please keep that in mind, for my class, and out in the field." Her desk display chimed, and she looked down briefly. "Miss Xiao Long's Aura has returned, and her recovery is proceeding apace. If you go to the medical ward, you should be able to walk her back to your dormitory."

  
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." _She'll be okay._

  
"I will schedule a rematch between the two of you for next class. Please inform Miss Xiao Long of that. You may go." She returned her attention to her desk display.

  
Blake stood up, slung her bag over her shoulder, and started for the medical ward. _Yang is okay. I hope she can forgive me._

* * *

Yang was waiting for her, sprawled in a chair with her left thigh bandaged. She waved at Blake. "Come by to finish me off?"

  
_She was all right. It's only a joke._ Blake bit her lip, shook her head 'no.'

  
"Hey, it's okay, Blake. No real harm done. They want me to use a crutch for today and tomorrow, take it easy for a day, and then I should be all good. I have detailed instructions. Ruby got my stuff?"

  
Blake hadn't really noticed. "It sounds like something she would have done." She pulled out her scroll. "I'll ask." She typed out the question, sent it, and looked back to Yang. Knelt down next to her, putting her hands over one of Yang's. "I'm so sorry. I-" _Lost control. Misjudged you. Made a mistake. Screwed up. Understand if you hate me._ She couldn't finish. Tried to look into Yang's eyes as her vision grew blurry.

  
Felt Yang's hand on the side of her face. "It's my fault, too. We both messed up. We'll get better." Blake nodded, leaned into Yang's hand.

  
They stayed like that for a moment, then Blake sniffed and stood up. "Okay. Let's get you back home. Where's the crutch?"

  
Yang pulled it out from behind her chair. Used it to lever herself to her feet before Blake could do anything. Blake hovered, ready to catch her friend if she wavered.

  
"Yang, I was going to help." _You're hurt._

  
"Why? I got it."

  
Blake opened her mouth to argue, snapped it shut again. _Let me help._ Tried a different tact. "How's the pain?"

  
Yang shrugged with her non-crutch arm. "Not bad. They gave me something. Maybe a little achey." She started forward.

  
"I'll get the door." Blake leapt forward, pulling it open for Yang.

  
"Thanks. I guess we're taking the elevator to our room. Unless you want to hold my crutch while I jump to the window with Ember Celica."

  
Frowning, Blake said, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

  
"It'd be exciting! Plus, I need the practice, if I'm ever going to be able to keep up with you."

  
"Yang..."

  
She shook her head. "Okay, fine. I _guess_ we can take the elevator instead. Like boring people with boring leg injuries."

  
Blake suppressed a sigh. This wasn't going very well. She tried to change the subject. "Glynda's scheduling us a rematch."

  
"Oh? How long until I need to fear for my life again?"

  
_I already feel horrible, and you're not **helping**._ "Next class."

  
Yang nodded. "Jumping right back in the saddle, then. Oh, speaking of, I guess we need to change our weekend plans. I doubt they want me riding Bumblebee tomorrow."

  
"It's okay; I'm sure we can find something to do on campus. Or even just stay in." Darting ahead, Blake pushed another door open for Yang.

  
"Thanks. I may actually study." She shivered dramatically. "See what you've reduced me to?"

  
Blake ducked her head. _She's just joking. But it was my fault. I hurt Yang. I deserve to hurt too._

* * *

They had made their slow way back to team RWBY's room, where Weiss, Ruby and Zwei were waiting. Ruby had almost thrown herself at her sister before seeing the crutch and bandage, and backing down. She settled for a one-armed hug, and had run off to get her sister a glass of warm whole milk. Blake didn't understand, but Weiss looked faintly nauseous, and Yang had just smiled. And chugged down the milk when Ruby came back.

  
Weiss had been, for her, unusually demonstrative. She'd patted Yang's shoulder, and told her it was good to see she was all right. All well and good for Weiss. She wasn't the one who hurt Yang in the first place.

  
But Yang had actually sat down at her desk, and was studying, Zwei sitting by her chair and receiving the odd scratch. Blake hovered until she realized Yang was actually working, and then ran away to her bunk. To stare at her latest book, not taking in a single word. _I hurt Yang. But no one seems to care. Even Yang. But its my fault. Why don't they blame me?_

  
_ Breathe in, hold it, breathe out. _

  
_ Maybe because they don't think it's my fault? Pyrrha and Glynda and Yang all said that it was both of us. Pyrrha wouldn't lie to protect my feelings. She'd expect me to take responsibility for what I did. But she'd expect Yang to do the same. Glynda is a good teacher. She wants me to learn from this. She wants both of us to learn from this. And Yang - why doesn't she blame me? It would be so easy for her. ...It's what He would do. It's what He did. All the time._

  
_ Breathe in, hold it, breathe out. _

  
_ Yang isn't Him._

  
"Hey Blake?" Yang had turned around in her chair, looked at her. "Did you want to head to dinner?"

  
Blake put down her book. She didn't have to move the bookmark at all. Everyone else was gone, and sunlight was fading. She forced herself to actually say something, instead of just nodding. "Sure. Did you want me to get your food for you?"

  
Heaving herself to her feet, Yang started to shake her head. Stopped, considered her crutch. "Yeah, that'd probably be easier for everyone."

  
Pulling out her scroll, Blake crossed to the door and opened it for Yang. "Your order, ma'am?" Her fingers were poised, ready to start typing.

  
Yang snorted. "Careful, you're going to spoil me."

  
"I'm just doing this because you actually studied."

  
"Ouch. Well, my brain would like a few slices of meat-lovers pizza, and spaghetti with white sauce, and-"

* * *

When they got back to the room, it was still dark. Blake looked around it suspiciously after flicking the light on. "Where did Ruby and Weiss run off to?"

  
Yang said, "They went down to Vale to catch a movie. With JNPR. And Zwei. They invited us. Did you miss that?"

  
"Apparently."

  
"You were pretty into that book."

  
Blake ducked her head. "Actually, I was just staring at it. I was thinking."

  
Yang lowered herself into her chair. Pausing, Blake made herself alert for any signs that Yang was in pain. She didn't catch any. Yang asked, "About what?"

  
"You. Me. All this." She sighed, perched on the edge of Yang's desk. "I know that we both made mistakes. I just-" Blake tried to sort out her thoughts. Settling back in her chair, Yang waited for her to finish. "I didn't want to fight you in the first place."

  
"Glynda says it's a good way to learn your team-mate's moveset, so you can fight better as a team. You know what your team-mates are capable of."

  
"I know, I know, and she's right." _And if your partner turns out to be a monster, its good practice._ "But I didn't want to hurt you, and I did, and we have to fight again-" Blake stopped herself as emotion choked her voice.

  
Yang reached out and patted her knee. "It'll be okay, Blake. I'm more or less fine now, and it's only been a couple of hours. I'm sure they stretched out my recovery time just in case. And, I thought of some ways we can practice without actually having to fight each other."

  
"Good enough for Glynda?"

  
"Ehhh, probably not. But I don't think there's a way around that one.'

  
Blake sighed. "No, there won't be." She shook herself. "What were your ideas?"

  
"Okay, so some of these are probably not very good. One," Yang pulled out her scroll, waved it in the general direction of the console. "We pick fighters similar to ourselves, and fight in game. It's super not perfect, but it might help a bit."

  
"And you want to play video games."

  
"And I want to play video games. Two, we find some other games - like, playground games - that might help. Tag, or something."

  
Blake laughed, leaned back on her hands. "Have you forgotten how much trouble you had catching me at the beach?"

  
"No." Yang looked away, red rising in her cheeks. "No, but I remember how much fun it was to catch you. And Ruby's always telling me I need to work on my speed, so..."

  
"Okay, tag it is. What's your third idea?"

  
"It's the one that's actually work." Yang took a deep breath. "I teach you to use Ember Celica, you teach me to use Gambol Shroud. I mean, obviously, it isn't perfect, since we're different people, and we'll apply our existing styles to what we learn-" She stopped, bit her lip, looked up at Blake, eyes big.

  
Swallowing, Blake met Yang's eyes. Teaching someone else your style - it was an intimacy. Not unheard of, certainly. There were family styles: she knew Ruby had learned from her uncle Qrow, and Yang had learned from her dad. But most people learned from theory and practice at combat schools, or in life-and-death struggles in the wild. And **no one** shared weapons.

  
But like Yang said, it wasn't perfect. They had different Semblances, mature styles of their own, different focuses in their workouts. She'd never be as good with Ember Celica as Yang was, Yang would never be as good with Gambol Shroud as she was. But it would give them insights into the other's style that just fighting each other would never reveal.

  
Blake blinked slowly. _I trust Yang._ "It does sound like a lot of work. But I think it would be worth it."

  
Blowing out a long breath, Yang nodded. "Okay. Want to start after Glynda's next class?"

  
"Sure. I'll book us a room." Blake pulled her scroll out, making the reservation. "Did you have any more ideas?"

  
Yang leaned back in her chair, smiling. "I mean, yes, but it's super dumb."

  
"How dumb?" _From that stupid grin, very._

  
"Well, you don't want to hurt me, right?"

  
_Never_. Blake nodded.

  
"Then think of this like aversion therapy. Facing your fears."

  
"Yang..."

  
"Have you heard of BDSM?" If Yang grinned any more, she would split her face. "Whips, chains, all that?"

  
_Oh. Oh dear._ "...You can't be serious."

  
"Are you telling me you wouldn't look amazing in black leather, with stiletto heels? Get you a nice flogger?"

  
Blake buried her face in her hands, trying to hide her blush. Yang kept going, so she was pretty sure that Yang had seen.

  
"And really, who _hasn't_ wanted to gag me?"

  
_That does sound tempting right now. I might be able to stop dying of embarrassment._

  
"Anyway, just something to keep in mind."

  
_I'm pretty sure the idea of Yang in bondage gear, tied and gagged in my bed, is etched into my **soul** now._

  
"Unless you wanted me to start, so you could feel better about getting payback. I have seen some really good looking corsets. And boots. Really cool ones. Just grab a switch, and I'd be good to go."

  
_And now I just want Yang to lead me around on a leash._ Blake shivered involuntarily. _I don't even want to think about that desire too much._ She was pretty sure she would, regardless.

  
"Anyway, I should get back to studying. You want to pull up a chair and help? Once you can talk again?"

* * *

Ruby, Weiss, Zwei, and JNPR still hadn't come back yet.

  
Yang shrugged. "They must have caught a double-feature."

  
"How? We can never agree on one movie to see, much less two." Blake checked her study guide against the book.

  
"Maybe we're the ones that are hard to please. Or they just gave up and went to get ice cream. Or found a party on the beach." Snapping her scroll open, Yang checked her messages. "Well, they're having fun, whatever they're doing." She yawned. "I'm beat, so I'm going to go to... bed. Huh."

  
Looking up, Blake saw Yang looking back at their bunk bed. Blake on the bottom, and Yang... on top. She looked down at the bandage on Yang's leg. Heard the words spill out before she could think. "You can sleep on the bottom with me."

  
Yang's head snapped back around. Blake tried to correct herself. "I mean, in my bed. I can take yours." And then her mouth kept moving. "But we can share. If you want."

  
Putting her hands in her lap, Yang sat very still. "It's okay, Blake. I can dig my sleeping bag out. I know we talked about this stuff. I really don't want to rush you."

  
_I want you. But- is this just me feeling like I owe you? Because I hurt you? Because you listen to me? It hasn't even been a year yet. I need to remember who I am. To make sure I'm healed. To keep my distance. To run and hide from someone who cares about me, and doesn't act anything like Him._

  
Blake laid her hands on the desk. Pressed down to keep from shaking. "We have done this before, Yang. I... want to see if it prevents nightmares, instead of having to wake up scared. And today has been rough."

  
"Okay. If you think it's a good idea." She reached for her crutch. "I'm going to get ready for bed."

  
Nodding, Blake stood up. "I should get ready too."

* * *

They had done this before. Often enough that Yang laid down first, and Blake nestled herself up against her without needing to say a word. Yang squeezed her shoulder, pulling her tight. "I'm right here. Wake me up if you need me."

  
Playing with Yang's hair, Blake nodded. "Okay. You 'll do the same?"

  
"I can't get out of bed without moving you, so yeah. I will." They lay there in the darkness, feeling each other breathe.

  
"Hey Blake?"

  
"Yes?"

  
"After the Vytal Festival is over, did you want to come visit Patch? I don't know if you had plans already."

  
"I didn't. I was just going to stay at Beacon until the next semester started up. I think Ren and Nora were going to as well."

  
"Patch isn't interesting, but it's quiet. And not too far away. So even if you get a job in Vale, you could visit for a weekend or something."

  
"I'd like that."

  
Yang gave her another squeeze. "If you want, you could visit when it's just me. Well, and Zwei. But he just sleeps on the couch. I can send dad and Ruby off on a camping trip or something."

  
"I don't know."

  
"That's okay. We've got plenty of time."

  
Still stroking Yang's hair, Blake didn't say anything. She want to grab Yang and kiss her. But she didn't know where that would lead. She didn't trust herself not to panic. Leave the room. Leave Beacon. Just start running and never look back, ever again.

  
She didn't want to. She'd regret every step. But she knew, deep down, that she could do it. She'd already thrown away her entire life once. She could do it again. Whether she really wanted to or not.

  
_Breathe in, hold it, breathe out. You're safe. Yang is safe. Yang makes you feel safe. You can trust her._

  
_Breathe in, hold it, breathe out._

  
Blake matched Yang's slow breathing, and slowly slipped off to sleep too.


End file.
